How To Make Windows 7 Pro Running On VirtualBox Talk To Kali Linux Running On Parallels Whilst Both Are Hosted On Mac OSX

The Spec

The Problem

If you’re anything like me and enjoy running Parallels on a Mac Book to operate your Virtual Machines then it can be infuriating when some VM builds refuse to run.

This recently happened to me whilst trying to fire up a Windows 7 Professional VMWare build in Parallels; it just simply wouldn’t convert. My easy fix when this happens is to fire up the VM in VirtualBox. I use VirtualBox because it’s free for Mac OS X (unlike VMWare Fusion) and tends to convert VMWare files quite well.

However, the default network settings for Win 7 on VirtualBox are NAT. This is great if all you want to do is load up Win 7 Pro on a Mac and get on the internet. If you want to start talking to this machine from Kali running on Parallels then sadly it’s not going to happen.

Default Settings On Virtual Box For Windows 7 Pro

The IP address given to the Win 7 machine is 10.0.2.15 and is on a different subnet to the Kali Linux machine running in Parallels.

Default IP Given To Win 7 By VirtualBox

I initially got some strange results from nmap scans pointed towards the Win 7 IP address from the Linux machine, however could not replicate them. Either way, no useful communication could be had between the two VM’s.

After a great deal of fruitless searching the internet I stumbled across the simplest of solutions.

This is what to do to get both machines on the same subnet, able to access the internet through the host and talking to each other. Simply change the network settings on the VirtualBox Win 7 installation to Bridged Adaptor using vnic0 as follows:

New Network Settings On VirtualBox

A further ipconfig command should provide you with an IP address in the same subnet as the Kali Linux machine. From here you should have no problem doing whatever it is you need to do.

Let me know if you have any similar tips for people paying for Parallels but filling the gaps by running a free version of VirtualBox on Mac OS X.

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